Viaim RecDot

Design

• Comfortable, AirPods-like fit
• Interactive stem for playback
• Only two colourways

I have to be completely honest here – when I first unboxed the Viaim RecDot, I had no idea how to actually open the charging case. Fully expecting the top to pop open like a car bonnet (just like how every other charging case does), I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong until my thumb accidentally slid across the top of the case to reveal the earbuds inside.

Although this design isn’t quite as intuitive as the norm, I do like that it provides something different in a market that feels all too similar from one product to the next. Oddly enough, that effort to strive for something different doesn’t carry over to the earbuds themselves as their shape is almost identical to that of the AirPods Pro 2, although that’s not immediately a bad thing.

The AirPods are among the most comfortable earbuds you can buy, which is why I keep returning to them, but the RecDot fit just as snugly in my ears, helped by the tight seal provided by the default ear tips. When wearing the earbuds to the gym during an abs workout, I never felt any concern that they would come loose from my ears, even when I was learning back at a 70-degree angle for one particular exercise. 

When it comes to interacting with the Viaim RecDot, the front-facing stem on each earbud can be swiped or pressed. Again, this will be familiar to anyone who’s owned a pair of AirPods Pros, and it’s great for quickly changing the volume without having to reach for your phone, but interactions involving double or triple presses of the stem just feel a bit clunky. Thankfully, you can change what these controls do to suit your liking, which is exactly why I shifted cycling through the various ANC modes away from a double press to a long press.

The RecDot are available in two colourways, Black (which features in this review) and Silver. While there’s no denying that the Black model probably works best for professional environments, I’m partial to the Silver option as it’s just a bit more eye-catching and gives the earbuds a chance to stand out from the crowd.

Features

• Easy to use transcribing
• Some AI hallucinations appear
• Great battery life

Even though they work perfectly well as a pair of earbuds for music and podcast playback, the real allure of the Viaim RecDot is all of the AI-infused voice recording that’s built into both the buds and the charging case. Having now used countless AI-powered features across the best smartphones and the best smartwatches, I think that the hype around AI is overblown and, in many instances it’s simply used as a buzzword to justify having fewer upgrades over last year’s tech. However, this is one of those rare instances where I can see the value in it.

As a tech journalist, I’ve sat through countless product briefings and while I’m usually pretty good at covering all the key points in my handwritten notes, there’s always something that gets missed and so having a device that can record what’s been said and then summarise it in a digestible format is a great idea. 

You also have quite a bit of freedom in terms of how you put the RecDot to work. You can start recording audio or video calls whilst wearing the earbuds, so they’ll pick up whatever’s being said on the main device you’re using in that moment, whether it be your phone or laptop, and for times when you’re in a meeting and it would look a bit odd to wear the earbuds, you can pop them back in the case, hold down the big recording button and let the RecDot do their thing.

It only takes a few minutes for recordings to then be analysed in the Viaim app, at which point you can read a full transcript of what’s been said, see an AI-generated summary of the proceedings and even a to-do list based on actionable tasks that have been brought up. The to-do list element is rather genius, and it’s here that I think the RecDot are at their most appealing, especially for those who are strapped for time.

Some of you may be quick to point out that there is now fairly decent transcription software built into most modern smartphones, and you’d be correct – I used the Honor Magic V5 for this exact purpose during an interview with James Dyson – but it’s not quite as expansive as what you’ll get here, and the ability to quickly set up a recording on a dedicated device means that you can still freely respond to texts and emails on your phone during a meeting. However, there are a few caveats that need to be highlighted.

From the tests that I conducted with the RecDot, it became pretty clear that the software is far from perfect. When outlining my plans over how to review the earbuds, the software registered a cough as something said in Chinese, and even though the transcription recognised that I had called out the Viaim RecDot by name, the summary spat out the following headline: “Review Preparation for VI AIM REC.A Headphones”. I haven’t the faintest idea of where that reinterpreted name came from, but it means you do have to watch out for an occasional AI hallucination.

Per month, the app offers up 600 minutes of transcriptions for free, and while that is likely to be enough for most people, anyone who’s constantly in and out of meetings may have no choice but to upgrade to one of the paid plans available. The Pro (1800 minutes) and Ultra (unlimited) tiers will set you back £9.99/$9.99 and £19.99/$19.99 a month respectively, which isn’t exactly cheap, even if you can save some money by opting for annual plans instead. For my personal use case, the 600-minute cap isn’t a dealbreaker but I could see it being a turn-off for some people.

At the very least, the Viaim RecDot do have some of the best battery life in the business. With the charging case in tow, you can get a total of 36-hours of use, with each earbud able to run for up to nine hours between charges. That longevity far outlives what’s available on even some premium pairs like the AirPods Pro 3 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen, so if you need a pair of earbuds to genuinely last you all day, these are easy to recommend.

I also quite like the way the Viaim app is set up. Everything is located under one of four tabs: Viaim, Records, Discover and Settings. It might sound a bit basic but it made finding all of the various features quite easy, especially when I wanted to tweak a few elements including the strength of the noise cancelling.

There’s active noise cancelling onboard, and whilst it’s nowhere near the levels you can expect from Bose’s buds, they do a decent job of minimising your surroundings. At the gym, I was able to hone in on my playlist and only vaguely be aware of the sound of weights hitting the floor, whereas at home I could use them to block out the sound of the TV whilst trying to get some work done. The fact that the seal is so secure also helps in this regard. The RecDot are fine for most scenarios but if you are working in a busy environment like a cafe then I would still recommend Bose’s earbuds over these.

At launch, the Viaim RecDot had a price tag of $249 (roughly £185) which I think is far too much given the calibre of other earbuds with the same going rate. However, at the time of writing it is possible to get the earbuds for $169.99 (around £125), and they appear to have had a permanent price cut to $199.99 ($146) when they’re not on offer. At this reduced rate, the RecDot are a better buy, and it’s unlikely you’ll feel hard done by with everything that you get here, so I’d recommend avoiding the full, original RRP where possible.

Sound quality

• Enjoyable sound with a good amount of clarity
• Some EQ presets complement songs well
• Other presets feel half-baked

Given that the main focus of the Viaim RecDot is the transcription software included, I wasn’t expecting too much from the buds when it comes to music playback, but after spending a good deal of time with them, I’m fairly impressed with what’s available here. It’s not enough to make me want to swap out my AirPods Pro 2, but then again, those earbuds don’t have anywhere near the same capabilities when it comes to transcription.

By default, the EQ mode is set to ‘Balance’ which is by far the best option to go with if you value clarity across all genres. For instance, with this mode activated, I can hear the piano mix well with the percussion and vocals in Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton, while Juice WRLD’s Lean Wit Me has plenty of bass to cushion and elevate the rest of the track. For casual playback, it gets the job done just fine, but you have plenty of options to tweak things to your liking.

There are at least 18 presets, including one dedicated for playing PUBG, alongside a custom mode that lets you change the levels to your exact preferences. There’s a good amount of variety here, but some presets are more competent than others. ‘Rock and roll’ can make heavier tracks with plenty of instruments sound even wider in scope, and when listening to R.E.M.’s The Great Beyond, it felt far more like being on stage, surrounded by the instruments and vocals from different angles. 

Switching things over to ‘Hip Hop’, the bassline in Ultimate by Denzel Curry sounds so much deeper than it would otherwise, and if you’re trying to lock in with the last few kilometres on the treadmill, it’s exactly the kind of energy you want. It’s a similar case with ‘Electronic’ as a track like Music Sounds Better With You strikes a nice mix between having a punchy bass and providing enough room for the mid-range to come through for the melody. 

In these modes, I very much enjoyed my time with the Viaim RecDot, but a handful of presets sound absolutely horrendous. I’m not quite sure what’s going on in the composition for the ‘Pop’ preset, but every pop track I listened to in this mode sounded like the earbuds had been dipped in mud. I think it would have made more sense for Viaim to focus its efforts on a smaller group of presets, no more than five or six, to make sure that they sounded optimised instead of the mish-mash of quality that’s currently on offer.

Should you buy it?